Drake Delacroix sat in his room, sharpening his sword as usual for a day when he had no work to do. Not, he mused, that there was often work for an ex S.O.L.D.I.E.R. these days. There was a knock at his front door, something that he wasn't expecting, though with luck it would be someone looking to hire him. He opened the door to see two Shinra suits staring at him.
"What do you want," he asked gruffly, crossing his arms. The suits exchanged a glance before the one on the right said, in a gravelly voice,
"President Shinra needs a S.O.L.I.D.E.R. We came to request your services." Drake stepped away from the door, but didn't invite the Turks in. Not that he needed to; they walked in after him anyway. Drake picked up the sunglasses he had left on the table next to his sword and whetstone.
"What's the pay," he asked.
"One hundred seventy-five thousand for two weeks," said one of the suits – Drake didn't care which, he was looking away.
"What's the job," asked the S.O.L.I.D.E.R. He wasn't a fool, after all.
"Security. We just need you to keep a certain facility locked down for a couple weeks."
"And the chances that I'll actually have to bleed for this…whatever it is?" The Turks exchanges another glance.
"Almost none," said one.
The Professor grabbed a tie from the pile hanging over the mirror in front of him, examining it for a second before tossing it deftly over one shoulder and choosing another.
"And you're absolutely certain it was a spaceship," he asked for something like the seventh time. Rosie rolled her eyes, exchanging an exasperated look with Billie before answering.
"Yes, Doc, I think I know a ship when I see one, and that was definitely a ship." The Professor shot her a look, but didn't say anything; he hated being called 'Doc.' The Time Lord tossed a fifteenth tie away, glancing at his companions in the mirror.
"Well, I suppose we should go and have a look, seeing as how it's an unnatural technology given the times." The Time Lord picked up a final tie – a striped red and white one – and began putting it on. "You see anyone interesting while you were out," he asked, smiling.
Rosie shrugged. "Not really, just a lot of buildings. It's weird, but that part of the town is empty." The Professor spun around, grabbing the coat he'd picked out; he wore a light tan trench coat and khaki pants, a blue dress shirt tucked into the pants with a red and crème striped neck tie.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" He strode out of the room, bursting back into the TARDIS control room with a grin. "Now," he said, pushing several buttons in succession on the console. "It's likely to be heavily guarded and not too friendly to intruders. But, what's the fun without a little danger, eh?" He flipped a lever.
"I'm bringing us in silently, we might need the stealth." The Time Lord thought for a second. "No, scratch that, we will need the stealth."
The TARDIS appeared silently, though not exactly in the right place. The ship appeared as a large sphere on a pedestal, obstructing a hallway. The Professor opened the door slowly, glancing around before stepping out. He looked his ship over as the others exited.
"That," he said. "Could be a problem. Hang on for just a minute." He jumped back into the ship and it disappeared, its usual noise ringing out in the corridors. Seconds later, it reappeared, the same sound heralding the approach of a square column set flush against the wall. The Time Lord stepped out of the ship, looking quite pleased with himself.
"All I had to do was supersede the chameleon circuit for long enough to land her," he said, grinning.
"Well, nice going and all," said Athena tensely. "But you've thrown subtlety out the bloody window with that stunt, Doc." Concern flashed across the Time Lord's face for an instant.
"Yes," he said. "Well, I suppose we can only hope for the best now."
The last thing Drake had been told was that, though AVALANCHE wasn't likely to send people, if they did, it would only be one or two. So, he was not expecting half a dozen intruders to come striding down the hallway, let alone one in full battle armor.
"Stay where you are," warned the S.O.L.D.I.E.R., his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his sword. The one in the lead, a tall blonde man in a trench coat, stepped forward.
"Sorry, but I have authorization to be here," he said, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket and handing it to Drake. The black clad man stared at it blankly for a moment before throwing it back.
"How stupid do you think I am? That's just blank paper." The blonde sighed.
"Well, it's psychic paper," he sighed. "It usually works." He shrugged. "I guess I don't have authorization then. Any chance you could just let me through anyway?" The S.O.L.D.I.E.R. shook his head, drawing his sword slightly.
"You're gonna stay where you are," he said. "Not one of you is going to move, understood?" The blonde nodded his head, looking back at his group. He seemed to give a signal of some sort, though. One of the girls – the one in the green and silver robes – shouted something that sounded like "stupidfy" and then all Drake knew was darkness.
The Professor stared at Athena, half shocked, half impressed at her reflexes. "How very…timely," he said. "I suppose we can't just leave him here," he said. "If you would please tie him up, we'll have to bring him along for now." The Time Lord set to operating the lift with his sonic screwdriver. The doors opened and the group, plus one hovering unconscious guard, stepped in.
The Professor smiled at the music that began playing, though it seemed to annoy the other passengers. Stern had, after only ten seconds, replaced his helmet on his head and had muted outside noise.
After several minutes, the doors opened again, the Professor stepping out into the nearly completed ship's engine room. There was, at the center of the massive room, an oddly metallic sphere set upon a pedestal, doors opened wide to reveal a gigantic inside, wires and cords going from the inside of the sphere to every part of the ship.
The Professor's smile vanished, clenching his fists as he looked at another TARDIS. "No," he breathed. "No, this is a dream, a hallucination from the regeneration. This can't…they can't have." The Time Lord stepped forward, toward the sphere.
a/n] well, it's a cliff hanger, but that's two in one day.